Haunted Beauty
by auroraluna1
Summary: Bella reminisces about a special time in her life when she discovered friendship, love and supernatural experiences. Written for the Haunted Twilight One-Shot Challenge.


**Title: Haunted Beauty**

**Penname(s): Auroraluna1**

**Summary: Bella reminisces about a special time in her life when she discovered friendship, love and supernatural experiences. **

**Rating: T**

**Submitted for Haunted Twilight Challenge**

**Please check out other Challenge Entries at : http://www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/community/Haunted_Twilight_Challenge/74526/**

**Disclaimer - Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. I own nothing. *sigh***

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**A/N This is my first venture into writing. I hope you enjoy this sweet romance with an eerie supernatural twist.**

**A huge thank you to Redlulu for betaing for me at the last minute. You're great Lulu!**

**I also want to thank AKeim for being there for me too many times to count. What would I do without you? Never mind, I don't want to know!**

**Last and certainly not least I want to thank Punkfarie and MissSnazzy for running this fun one-shot challenge!**

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**Haunted Beauty**

The first time I caught a glimpse of this magnificent house will forever be engrained in my memory. It was two days before Halloween two years ago. I was entranced by the beauty of the house. The intricately woven ivy twisting its way up the side of the two-story Tudor home seemed to be reaching for the warmth just inside beyond the window pane. In the yard, the grand oak tree's branches stretching skyward were supporting an old tire swing that gently swayed in the autumn breeze as if remembering a playful time with a child. At that moment I realized I was not completely alone with my thoughts as I believed I was. It was the first time I heard him. The heavenly, almost melodic rhythm of his voice pulled my attention toward the garden.

"Maaaac…. Haaaleeey…" the voice almost sang as he called out. "MAAAC…. HALEEY… You're Mom is looking for you!!!" the voice was getting a little more serious each time he called out. Then I heard other voices more light hearted, sweet and giggling playing joyfully in the big oak tree.

"OK, we're coming!" shouted the little girl as she swung down out of the tree from the lowest branch over the tire swing. "Oh, no way! We just started playing!" yelled the little boy, a good foot taller than his sister, as he jumped off a low branch. How did I not notice them sitting up in the tree? Had they noticed me watching the house? Before I had time to contemplate those questions any longer they both started running back toward the garden. Little Haley's long blonde curls bouncing as she ran. Mac ran ahead of her looking over his shoulder baiting her to follow him. His hair was cut short, but the chestnut brown curls were still evident around his cherubic face as he laughed over his shoulder at Haley. "Come on slow poke! We gotta catch him!" he yelled back to her. They rounded the corner of the house and went out of sight. Five seconds later I heard a frightening scream as the children came running back around to the front of the house laughing and screaming as the man I presumed to be their father chased them toward the front door. As he reached them they all tumbled to the ground rolling around laughing. Just then the front door flew open hitting the jack-o-lantern sitting on the porch and the most breathtaking woman I had ever seen stood there in the doorway with her hands on her hips. She frowned in a frustrated fashion. Then just as quickly, she burst into laughter at the spectacle of the children and their father rolling around on the lawn laughing.

"All right _children_ in the house right now. You need to wash up for dinner." She said to all three them as they scrambled to their feet and ran inside.

I was sitting across the street on the front porch steps of my best friends' house. Alice and her husband, Jasper moved here about a month ago. Alice had told me they moved here to live close to her family. Her brother Emmett and his family lived across the street. That is why they chose their house.

I had known Alice since college, but of her family, I had only met her parents. I had heard all about her brothers and I felt like I knew them, but the boys never made the trip down to UCLA with her parents when they visited. Alice always spent time with them when she went home for holidays. Since I arrived earlier that day Alice and Jasper had been totally hospitable. They allowed me to settle in to my room and to become familiar with the place. I had planned on moving to the area later when got a job here. However, Alice had other plans as she often does. She works for a fashion designer and they were looking for an office manager so I drove up to stay with Alice and see if I could land the job. I ended up getting the job later that week.

While Alice did tell me about her brother, Emmett, she did not tell me how gorgeous he was or how wonderful he sounded playing with the children. His voice was almost haunting. Its effects lingered with me long after he was gone. It was as if his voice _sings_ to me.

Deep in my thoughts I was startled as Alice swung the door opened and came out carrying a tray of hot chocolate and cookies with my jacket draped across her arm. "Bella, what are you doing out here all alone? It's getting dark and cold." she said in her high pitched soprano voice.

"Oh, geez Alice you scared me." I said as I took a cup and a cookie from her. "Thanks. I've just been people watching. You have a very entertaining neighborhood." I answered her after I steadied my breathing from being startled. Alice handed me my jacket. I smiled at her thoughtfulness. "Thanks, Alice. What would I do without you?" I asked.

"Probably freeze and die of boredom." Alice said laughing at her own joke. I nodded my head and smiled agreeing with her.

Alice moved her head from side to side glancing around at the other houses nearby. There was nobody outside except a man two houses down raking leaves in his yard. She shot me a puzzled expression and then she gracefully perched herself on the porch railing. "Hmm…entertaining neighbors? Don't hold back on me, Bella. What exactly did you see my neighbors' doing that was so entertaining? Did Mr. Clearwater do something particularly funny while raking his yard?" she asked tilting her head in the direction of the older gentleman.

The sun had set and darkness fell as we sat talking about the sweet scene I had witnessed earlier between her brother Emmett and the children playing across the street. It was then that we heard the squealing voices of the children ring through the night air.

"Aunt Alice!" they sang in unison as they ran up the steps into her waiting arms. Alice laughed and hugged them back. "Aunt Alice can you help us with our Halloween costumes, pleeeease?" Haley begged. "Just a minute, honey. I want to introduce you two to someone very special." Alice said to the precious little girl. "Mac, Haley, I want to introduce you to, Bella. She's the bestest friend I've ever had." She told them. They turned around to look at me.

In the soft glow from the porch light I could see how adorable they were. They smiled down at me since I was still sitting on the step and they were now standing on the porch next to Alice. They both had dimples and the prettiest blue eyes. Mac stepped forward with his hand extended to shake my hand. I stood up and walked over to him.

"Hi, Mac." I said to him. "It's nice to meet you Ms. Bella." Mac said back to me. "Thank you Mac. You are quite the little gentleman. It's wonderful to meet you, too." I replied to Mac.

"Hi, Ms. Bella!" little Haley said as she moved to my side and offered her hand for me to shake as well. "Hi, Haley. You are a lovely young lady. I have heard so much about you both. Your Aunt Alice is very proud of the two of you!" Haley smiled and looked back over at Alice. I could see how much the two children loved Alice. "I would love to help you and your Aunt Alice with Halloween costumes." I told them. With that Haley squealed with delight and the children returned to their Aunt's side giving her another hug. "When can we start, right now?" Mac asked her. Alice ruffled his hair with her hand. "In a few minutes, everything is upstairs in the guest room." She said back to him.

I didn't notice anyone else had walked up until he cleared his throat to let us know he was standing there waiting. It was the man I saw playing with the children earlier. He smiled a sexy crooked smile at me. Why were all the gorgeous guys taken? I thought to myself.

"Oh. My. Gosh. I can't believe you made it!" Alice screamed as she jumped up and ran over to the man standing at the bottom of the porch steps, throwing arms around him hugging him tightly. Hearing the commotion, Jasper came out of the house to see what was going on. He flashed a huge smile at the man as Alice released him from her hug. Then Jasper shook his hand pulling him into a one armed hug. "Man, I have missed having you around." He said.

This left me wondering where Emmett had been. If these children were mine I couldn't imagine being away from them for very long. Alice realizing she hadn't introduced her brother to me yet. She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to him. "I want you to meet my brother." She said to me.

"Let's make the introductions inside. It's really too cold out here now." Jasper suggested to Alice. She nodded and led me inside. Everyone else followed us into the family room. Jasper carried the tray back to the kitchen and the children followed him begging for hot chocolate & cookies too. He agreed to give them a snack then took them upstairs to get ready to work on their costumes. Halloween was only two days away.

Back in the family room Alice took care of the introductions. "Bella, this is my twin brother Edward. Edward, this is my best friend Bella Swan" She said to each of us. He leaned forward taking my hand, raising it to his lips and kissing it. The instant he touched my hand I felt an electric shock sending a shiver through me. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Bella." He said looking me in the eyes the entire time. I couldn't look away until I heard Alice giggling beside me. Then I realized I was standing there with my mouth open staring into most hypnotic green eyes I've ever seen and I had not let go of his hand yet.

I pulled my hand back and cleared my throat a bit. "It's nice to meet you too." I said in a lame attempt to regain my composure. "I'm sorry, I saw you playing with the children earlier and I thought you were their father, Emmett." I tried to explain my rudeness. I wondered if he had felt the electricity between us too or if I had just imagined it.

"Oh, that's what this is about." He laughed. "Emmett and Rose will be here in a little while. He just got home from work so I thought I'd bring the kids over here to give them a little alone time." He said with a wink. Oh my God, he winked at me, I thought to myself.

"Edward just got back from New York. He's been gone for a couple of weeks on business. I hate it when he's so far away. It feels like part of me is missing." Alice said putting an arm around his waist as he put his arm around her shoulder.

Edward, Alice and I sat talking about his advertising business and the trip he just returned from when someone banged on the front door.

Edward went to answer the door and Jasper came back downstairs walking towards the front door. They welcomed in the guests. The blonde woman from across the street was even more stunning up close as she waltzed into the family room on the arm of a man I can only describe as both enormous and exquisite. Alice's family must be the most beautiful family on earth. I suddenly felt oddly out of place.

Alice introduced me to her brother Emmett and his wife Rosalie. They were both warm and gracious as they shook my hand. Then everything took a rather strange twist.

Emmett looked over at Edward. "We have an issue over at our house." He said in an ominous tone. "What's wrong?" Edward asked him. Rose put a hand on Emmett stopping him from continuing.

"Emmett, start at the beginning. Bella doesn't know about _Granny_." Rose told him. Alice and I sat on the couch across from Rose and Emmett who sat down on the love seat. Jasper was resting on the arm of the couch next to Alice. Edward had settled into a big arm chair beside the couch.

Emmett turned toward me as he started his story. "We moved into that house five years ago just before Haley was born. Decades ago the house belonged to our father's parents. They sold the house when our father, Carlisle, went off to college. The people who bought it from them were trying to sell it and we really wanted to get it back into the Cullen family. We put in a bid and the owners took it really quickly. We got a great deal on the purchase of the house. Since the owners had already moved out and left town they were in a rush to sell. We found out about a month later why they were in such a hurry to move out and sell the enchanting house. We had decided to remodel one of the bedrooms into a nursery for Haley by adding some built-in cabinetry and other details. Almost immediately we began hearing noises and seeing things. Well, not really seeing them straight out, but in our peripheral vision. Like seeing someone or something to the side of us then when we turn our heads to look there is nothing there." He paused to look at Rose. She placed her hand on his arm and gave him a soft smile of encouragement then he continued. Their love was obvious to everyone in the room.

"One day I woke up feeling a pressure, not painful at all, just like I couldn't move because something was leaning over me. When I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything there, but I couldn't move. Then I heard a rough raspy voice saying "JonesFamily" all rushed together like it was one word. At first I was groggy from sleep and didn't understand "What?" I asked scared of whatever was happening to me. "JonesFamily" the voice repeated. That time I heard the words but I still didn't know what it meant. "No… the Cullen's family." I said to the entity. It repeated itself again saying "JonesFamily" forcefully this time. I didn't understand what it wanted, so I just kept saying "No, we're the Cullen's." Each time it repeated itself it sounded and put off a feeling of being angrier than the time before. Finally it dawned on me that the people who owned the house before us were named James and Vicki Jones. So I said "Oh NO! We're the Cullen's family. CULLENS." I said to it. Apparently that wasn't what it wanted to hear because it moved closer to my face so it felt like it was within inches of my face and repeated "JonesFamily!" Scared and frustrated myself at that point, I suddenly thought, it doesn't know who I mean by the Cullen's. "I'm Carlisle's son! Carlisle Cullen!" Suddenly like a light being switched on, the pressure released from over me and lightness radiated down on me instead of the anger that I had been feeling from the entity. I was able to move, so I sat up and looked over at Rose who had somehow slept through the entire event. I stood up looking down at my shaking hands wondering what had just happened. I left the room looking over at the clock to see it was only 3:30 am." Emmett stopped talking, but he was staring at the floor now almost as if he was afraid to look me in the eyes.

I know I had a shocked expression on my face, but when Alice took my hand and Edward moved over to sit next to me I found my voice. "Emmett that is an incredible story. Do you have any idea who the entity may be?" I asked. Rose smiled at me, Alice squeezed my hand and Edward shifted his position slightly like he wanted to put his arm around my shoulder, but settled with it on the back of the couch behind me instead. When Edward's hand brushed by my hair as he lowered his arm, I felt that electric thing again and shivered.

Emmett raised his eyes to meet mine. "You don't think I'm crazy?" He asked.

"Crazy? No way. I totally believe you saw and felt what you say you did. I've had my fair share of experiences myself. I would never doubt what you say you experienced." I told him. Emmett smiled "Alice she's a keeper. We need to make her an honorary Cullen!" he said to Alice. Alice laughed "She already is Emmett! Now will you please answer her question?" Alice said to Emmett.

"Oh, of course I will. We believe the entity is our grandmother, our father's mother." He said. I raised my eyebrows in shock not expecting to hear that. "We called her Granny and she loved that house till the day she died. She never wanted to sell the house all those years ago, but they had to for financial reasons. She had always hoped that we could somehow get the house back into our family." He paused to evaluate my expression. Apparently pleased with what he saw he continued. "Anyway, we still hear things and see movement in our peripheral vision, but we just talk to her like she's standing right there with us and she hasn't been any problem at all. Until now…" he stopped and looked at Edward. "That's what we need to talk about." He said.

"OK, everyone is up to date. So tell us what is going on now." Edward said to Emmett.

"You know I just got home a little while ago. Rose was telling me how much more she has to do to get ready for the Halloween party she is planning." Emmett said rolling his eyes at Rose. "Then we heard a loud bang from the basement. We ran down there to find my huge workbench flipped over. What could have done that? Granny has never damaged anything or even moved anything." Emmett asked. Everyone was silent for a minute.

"I'm just glad the kids were not in the house!" Rose added. "They would have been scared. Who am I kidding? It scared me. That bench weighs over two hundred pounds and it was flipped over like it weighed two ounces. Who or whatever did that is very strong. I don't believe it was Granny!" She said. Emmett tried to reassure her by taking her hand. "I don't either babe." Emmett said to her.

"Are you cancelling the party?" I asked knowing the party was to take place in just two days. Alice gasped as if I suggested drowning a basket of puppies or something. "Absolutely not! We'll get rid of the trouble maker and the party will proceed as planned!" Alice informed us all.

"Bella, Rose and I will go upstairs with the children to put the finishing touches on the costumes while you men go take care of the unwanted guest in Emmett and Rosalie's house." Alice ordered. When Alice gave out orders like that not too many people had the nerve to refuse. She may be dainty, but she is extremely persuasive, especially when Rose was there to back her up.

The men stayed in the family room putting together their plan while the women went upstairs. Jasper called his friend Peter, who was a spiritualist, to see if he could do a blessing and a cleansing on the house. Peter agreed to go to Emmett and Rosalie's house the next morning. Everyone ended up sleeping at Alice and Jasper's house that night. Rose wasn't comfortable taking the children back into their house until after the blessing was completed.

We finished the costumes and they we're amazing. I could not believe what an incredible talent Alice had as a designer. She definitely chose the right field in which to work.

Everyone settled down to sleep. Emmett, Rosalie and the children shared the guest room. Alice fixed up the couch for Edward. I went to my room, but I was still a bit wound up to sleep so I wandered down to the kitchen for a drink. When I walked into the dark kitchen the refrigerator door was standing open. Edward was bent over with his head inside the refrigerator looking for something. When he heard me walk into the room he stood up quickly, hitting his head in the process. "Damn, that hurt!" he fumed. I grimaced "Hi, sorry I startled you. Are you okay?" I asked as I opened the freezer to get him an ice pack for his head. "I'm alright. Thanks." He said as he took the ice pack from my hand.

We stayed up a couple more hours talking about our plans for the next couple of days. He had the most engaging way about him. I don't think anyone has ever made me feel so special. It was something about the way he looks at me. He had laid down the ice pack, so I reached over to pick it up, at the same moment he went to pick it up too. When our hands touched I felt the electrical charge much stronger that time. He had to be feeling that too. I froze and looked up at him. He was staring into my eyes with one eyebrow arched. Then that familiar sexy crooked smile made another appearance. Oh yeah, he feels it too, I thought to myself. At that point all I saw was his lips. They slightly parted as he slowly leaned down toward me. I closed my eyes ready for the kiss I could only imagine would be like lightening and heaven rolled into one amazing event.

"Whatcha doing ladies?" Emmett said as he came pushing through the swinging kitchen door, flipping the light on as he walked in the room. He cracked up laughing when he saw the irritated look on Edward's face as Edward threw a loaf of bread hitting him in the head.

"Ugh! Emmett, why are you still awake?" Edward asked him as he gave me an apologetic look and mouthed "I'm sorry" to me. I smiled and laughed as Emmett sat down beside Edward wrapping his left arm around Edward's head and rubbing the top of his head with the knuckles of his right hand. Edward squirmed lose and punched Emmett in the arm as Emmett laughed at him.

"Sorry I broke up the little love fest in here, but I need some warm herbal tea. I can't sleep." Emmett said more to me than to Edward. I got up and helped Emmett with the tea. Then I excused myself to go to bed leaving the two men in the kitchen.

The next morning after breakfast the men met Peter across the street for the blessing. Alice stayed with Haley and Mac, but I couldn't resist. I had to see what was happening so I went with Rose over to their house. Jasper let us in the house and took us to Edward and Emmett down in the basement. Peter started conducting the ceremony while we followed him through the house. I saw the huge workbench that had been flipped over. I was surprised by the immense size of it knowing something had tossed it around so easily.

The ceremony went by without a problem. Emmett said the house felt more peaceful so we had hope that the aggressive spirit had left. Emmett & Rose thanked Peter and Jasper walked him out. Peter told Jasper he had seen situations like this before and he truly felt whatever had been there before was gone.

Alice, Jasper, Edward and I helped Rosalie finish decorating her house and garden for the festive Halloween party to be thrown the next night. Emmett was sent by Rose to pick up last minute things she needed for the party.

On Halloween, Alice and I helped get the children in their costumes before going and getting in costume ourselves. The children were going next door to Kate and Garret's house for a children's party at six o'clock where they were staying for a sleep over. Kate had been a close family friend to the Cullen's since they were children themselves. Now their own children were best of friends.

All of the adults had made or purchased their own costumes so we could surprise each other at the party. Of course the two couples worked together on theirs. Alice helped me since I had only been in town for a few days. She made a call to the costume designer that took care of the costumes she had bought for herself and Jasper. The only things she had left for a female were a pirate and a vampire. I took the vampire costume to try and stay with the Halloween spooky theme. Of course having not seen it I could only hope it will fit and look decent. Jasper made the trip in the car to pick-up the costume for me. He took Edward with him because Edward didn't have a costume either. He was going to ask Alice's friend for a suggestion on where he could get one. Jasper promised not to peek or show Edward my costume. Alice and I stayed behind to get our hair and make-up ready. By the time Jasper and Edward made it back with my costume we only had a few minutes left to get ready before people would be arriving at the house for the Halloween party.

To say I was surprised at my costume would be an understatement. It was a vampire, but the dress was very short and tight with thigh-high black stiletto boots to match. Not something I would have chosen if I had seen it first. Now I had no choice. I slowly made my way to the stairs.

I stopped on the landing at the top of the stairs seeing the gathering of people that were already downstairs for the party. I stood there for a minute taking in the sight below. There was Rosalie in her short little cheerleading costume shaking hands with a couple of guests ,that Emmett wearing his football uniform, had just welcomed in the front door. Alice was at the table, stirring the punch, wearing her southern belle costume while Jasper walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek. His southern gentleman costume was perfect for him! There were many other guests milling about sharing stories and comparing costumes. Nobody except the family and I knew about the events of the last couple of days. Cleansing the house of spirits and preparing for this party had taken oven our lives. I took one more glance around the room and spotted Edward staring back at me from across the room.

It was inconceivable in my mind how any man could be that perfectly gorgeous. Edward smiled at that moment and for a split second I blushed because I thought he had read my mind. He winked at me and started walking toward the stairs. I began walking down, praying I didn't trip. We met at the foot of the stairs.

Edward moved my hair to the side and leaned down toward my neck. "Bella, you are the sexiest vampire ever!" he whispered into my ear, his voice heavy with desire. I blushed again while looking him up and down shaking my head. "I don't think so. You look so hot in your vamp costume." I said to him. He took my hand leading me toward the back of the house. "Did Alice tell you about my costume?" I asked him. "No, this was one of the only costumes left when we pick yours up at from Alice's friend. It was this or a pirate." He said.

I looked over to where Alice had been standing to see her watching us walk away. She flashed me a smile as Edward leaned down and kissed my neck making me shiver and close my eyes. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." He said. I smiled at him. "I think we have been set up by Alice." I told him. He walked us over to a love seat. "It's okay, I'll thank her later." He whispered as he pulled me down onto the seat with him.

He wrapped his arm around my waist placing his hand at the small of my back pulling me closer to him. He cupped my cheek with his other hand as he slowly lowered his lips to mine. At that moment, in my mind, no one else existed except us. I reached my hand up to the back of his neck pressing my lips harder against his. The electricity we shared spread through me like wildfire with his touch. He gently pulled his face away and smiled. "You felt it too, didn't you?" he asked. "Mmm…the spark? Mmm-hmm." I replied my eyes still closed. As I opened my eyes I saw… no I felt… someone standing just beside me. I turned, expecting someone to be standing there. But no one was there. We got up when Rosalie started yelling for help with the Halloween costume contest. After the contest people started leaving. I stayed to help clean up the mess. At one point I was alone in the family room cleaning when I felt it again. Someone was standing behind me. I turned and again no one was there. But this time the feeling didn't leave. It grew closer. I remembered what Emmett said about Granny. He said they talk to her like she is standing right there with them.

"Granny, I know you don't know me, but I am a friend of your grand children and I would do anything to protect them. Your house is absolutely beautiful. You've done an amazing job with both your family and your home." I paused and then continued. "One more thing Granny, I think I'm in love with your grandson, Edward." The presence I had felt left, leaving me with a peaceful, loving feeling.

As perfect as my memory of that Halloween is and how exciting that time in my life was none of it compares to my life today.

I smile as I see my wonderful Edward coming into the room carrying Renesmee, our beautiful baby girl, dressed as a pumpkin. She reaches out for me calling "Mum-mum". I beam with pride each time I hear her precious voice calling me. As I take her from Edward he wraps us both in his protective embrace, kissing the top of my head. Once again we create an electrical charge that radiates through me, causing me to shiver. I look up into my husband's eyes unable to resist him any longer. I reach up and kiss him with more love and passion than I ever thought possible. This is the best Halloween of my life.

**A/N Thank you so much for reading my first one-shot. Please review to let me know what you think. **


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